Sleepless Beauty
by raspberryjukebox
Summary: Luna Lovegood is hit with a Dark curse at the Battle of Hogwarts by a vengeful Deatheater. She struggles to hold on to reality, and her sanity, but finds that she doesn't have to do it alone. Dark, M for safety.


**Hello, reader! Thanks for stopping by! So, this is the first of my Not-Quite-A-Fairytail series! This idea struck me over the head with a cast-iron pot over vacation, and I just HAD to do it. Basically, I'm taking fairytails and tweaking them slightly, (OK, a lot.) to fit Harry Potter and my rather messed up imagination. Unfortunately, this first fic isn't really fairytail-ish. But I'm still rather proud of it! I currently have ideas for Little Red Riding Hood, my way, and I'm leaving it up to you to supply the rest! Leave a review or send me a message telling me what you story you want told, and who you want starring in it!**

***I need to apologize to the people that have me on Author Alert- there was a bug that wasn't letting the story be found, and I sorta flipped and tried to keep uploading and deleting it. So, my bad! Here's to one more email!**

**Luna isn't as... Airy (Does that describe it?) as she was in the books in this fic. She's much rawer. And darker than I'd planned. But she's still essentially Luna, sweet, loyal-to-her-core Luna in the end!**

**Here we go! Enjoy, and review!**

**disclaimer: not mine. JK's. not that she'd want this anyways**

* * *

Sleepless Beauty

Luna twirled, hair of moonlight swinging behind her. She ducked as she saw a jet of green shoot towards her, and sent a fierce Stunner back. Through the chaos of the Battle, she saw Ginny and Hermione advancing on a dark-haired woman, who was obviously enjoying herself. She looked familiar, and Luna thought she seemed a very experienced fighter. Something clicked in her Ravenclaw brain, and she realized it was Bellatrix Lestrange, the woman who'd torn Neville's and Harry's lives apart.

She flew after them.

Luna sprinted through the crowd, no curses seeming to touch her, hexes _just_ bending around her petite frame. But all the spells shot from her wand made devastating contact. And in the midst of this insanity, a tense smile lit up her face. Harry would be proud of her. He would be proud of all of the D.A. left fighting. Her smile slipped a bit, remembering Harry was gone- although if there was one thing Luna knew, it was that the dead never really left. They were whispers behind a Veil, a caress in a dream, waiting patiently to be reunited with their loved ones.

She was ten feet away from her friends when his curse struck her.

"_Dementri somnium_!"

The voice of Lucius Malfoy rang out behind her, a voice that she knew intimately. Had she not been imprisioned by the owner of that voice for months on end? His spell manifested in a shadow of smoky black, and it did not fly at her as the others had. It settled over her in a cloud, and as much as Luna thrashed and ran, she couldn't escape. It tore its way painfully into her body, and she screamed, falling to the grimy stone. Ginny heard her cry, and faltered, scanning the crowd for her friend. Bellatrix cackled, going in for the kill.

"Not my daughter, you BITCH!" Molly Weasley burst from the mass of people and ferociously attacked Bellatrix. Ginny gave her mother a pained glance as she was shoved aside, and ran to Luna, who was still writhing on the ground.

"Luna, Luna, what happened? Can you hear me?" Ginny was frantic, hands fluttering about her crumpled body, terrified of causing further damage.

"Oh..." Luna's airy voice was thick, confused, and her body sagged. "I'm not sure. I've never felt anything like that before..." She trailed off, pearly eyes staring vacantly at the star covered ceiling. Hermione joined them, pulling Luna's head onto her lap.

"Who cursed you?" She asked, voice calm and steady. Strong. Luna focused on it, trying to pull that vitality into her aching body.

"Lucius. Lucius Malfoy." Luna's answer was clearer, strength returning. She slowly pushed herself up, leaning heavily on Hermione's shoulder. "I don't know what that curse was, but I could tell it was very Dark." Luna mused, voice filled with a kind of painful curiosity.

Screams. "_Harry_!"

Ginny gasped. Hermione let out a choked cry. Luna smiled. _Of course_, she thought.

As Harry and Voldemort faced off, everyone was pressed to the sides of the room. Ginny and Hermione heaved Luna up and dragged her over to where Neville was attending to Seamus Finnagan's broken and slashed shoulder, oblivious to the upheaval around him.

"_Scourgify_! _Episkey_!" Neville cleaned and healed the wound, looking up at the approaching girls. When he saw the state Luna was in, a strangled cry ripped its way out of his throat, and he sprang up. Brushing the other girls aside, he helped Luna gently to the ground, pillowing her head in his lap. He glanced at Ginny, a question bottomless eyes, and she shrugged. They turned to watch the final battle.  
_

_The shadows were so cold, and they hurt. Luna sat, hunched against the unfeeling stone wall in the dungeon, staring blankly ahead._

_It was nearly time._

_Footsteps clunked down the stairs, a cold light proceeding them, and she cringed, pressing herself further into the darkness. Maybe he will take pity, this time, she thought. It's not his fault. He's being forced to do this. But I want it to stop..._

_Lucius Malfoy stepped into the dungeon, face pinched with disgust. He peered around into the shadows, and sent the ball of light hovering above his wand along the walls. Luna's heart beat faster as it approached her, and she shut her eyes, begging it to stop before it reached her. It shone over Ollivander, and slowed. No. No. He can't take the torture anymore. Lucius started walking in the wandmaker's direction, and without thinking Luna struggled to her feet._

_"Mr. Malfoy, leave him be!" Her shout startled even her, and he stopped short. Slowly, he turned, rage burning in his face._

_"You dare give me orders, little girl?" Lucius's hiss echoed around the chamber, and Luna flinched. But she stood tall._

_"Yes." She replied simply, and Lucius scoffed, heading towards her. Luna closed her eyes, knowing what was to happen. She accepted it, giving herself for her friend. When Lucius's hand closed around her throat, she gave a peaceful smile. Yes, she could help Mr. Ollivander survive this place._

_"You insolent girl! You will learn your place!" And with that, Lucius threw her back into the wall, and her head cracked against the stone. The room swirled into darkness._  
_

Luna sat up in bed, gasping for breath. Her hand found the throbbing spot on the back of her head, and she frowned. That was months ago, in the Malfoy Manor... It shouldn't hurt now. A stab of pain shot through her skull, and she cried out, gripping her head in her hands.

What was going on?  
_

Hermione hopped up to help Ginny with the dinner dishes, reluctantly releasing Ron's hand from under the table in the process. She waved her wand, and the plates rose and followed her into the kitchen. Directing them into the sink, she frowned suddenly, turning to Ginny.

"Gin, why didn't you invite Luna to dinner? I'd've loved to see her. It's been a bit since she visited."

Ginny shrugged, her expression capturing Hermione's attention immediately. "I dunno, Hermione. I sent her an owl, but it brought the letter right back, unopened." When Hermione looked alarmed, Ginny placed a soothing hand on her arm. "You know how she gets, hon. I expect she's off on some trip looking for a Blibbering Snorcack, or whatever the hell she's so obsessed with." With a smile and a brush on Hermione's cheek, she swept out of the kitchen.  
_

_"What are you doing, Mum?" Luna asked gaily, skipping over to her mother's side. Diana Lovegood was standing in their backyard, her plaited hair falling down her back, sky blue robes pushed haphazardly back over her elbows. She was practicing a complex wand movement._

_"Working on a new spell, lovey. Want to see? I think I'm ready to test it!" Her mother's reply was so excited, Luna started jumping up and down. Diana laughed, drawing the young girl to her side._

_"What does it do?" Luna questioned._

_"It opens one's mind to new ideas, allows it to accept the unknown. One thing you must always do, Luna, is have an open mind." Diana said seriously. Luna nodded. "Ready to see?"_

_"Yes!"_

_Diana shut her eyes, concentrating, pouring her will into her wand, she waved it over her head, muttering a low incantation, just as Xenophilius banged open the door. She faltered, and gasped._

_"No!"_

_"Love? What's going on?" Xenophilius's gentle voice was marred with worry, and he started towards his wife._

_Diana screamed, falling to her knees. Luna collapsed next to her, trying to tug her hands away from her face. Diana shrieked, fingernails scratching porecelian skin, moonlight eyes seeing nothing._

_"Mummy! MUMMY!" Luna shrieked next to her, and Diana, with incredible will, slowly turned her head to look at her only daughter._

_"L-L-Luna," she gasped out. "I l-love-" Blood burbled from her mouth, and she collapsed in the grass. Dead._

_Luna's scream blasted the surrounding wheat field flat, her magic untamed and grieving._  
_

Sobbing, Luna tried to escape the smoky haze in her brain.

"No," she moaned. "No, it isn't real, it's not happening, not again..." Her cries went unheard.  
_

_"_REDUCTO_!"_

_Luna's lungs burned with the cold air as she ran, chaos erupting around her. Glass balls fell from the shelves, a thousand voices whispering behind them as they fled from the Deatheaters. A large explosion behind her knocked her into Ginny, who twisted as she fell, letting out a pained cry. Through the smoky haze Luna scrambled to her friend, throwing the redhead's arm over her neck and hauling her up without a word. Together, they rushed to the exit everyone else had escaped through. Luna and Ginny were just feet away when the door started to swing shut, and, panicking, Luna shoved Ginny forwards through the gap. She tripped forwards the last few steps just as it slammed in her face._

_Trapped._

Wait_, a voice intruded her conciousness. _No. This isn't how it happened...

_Luna whipped around to see the group of Deatheaters swarming around her. A large, callused hand roughly grabbed her bicep and yanked her backwards into a hard wall of flesh. She struggled, and the other arm snapped around her waist, keeping her from escaping. Luna kicked out blindly, foot making contact with something soft just as she heard an "Oof!" The hands tightened, one coming up to grasp her throat._

_"Stop."_

_The voice was familiar, and the tone radiated easy power. She knew the voice..._

No! Stop, it's not real!_ The voice that didn't belong reappeared, distant and weak, and Luna couldn't focus on it. The hand on her throat was tightening, and she gagged, lungs starting to constrict painfully._

_"Don't fight, little girl. You will never win." The man was whispering in her ear, his words seeming like echos, or deja vu. As soon as Luna thought this, the Department of Mysteries vanished, and she was suddenly in the dungeons of the Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy pressed up behind her, mouth to her ear._

_"Don't fight me," he whispered again, hand around her waist starting to creep down, and in her lower back she could feel-_

_"_NO!_"_  
_

Luna's own scream broke through the walls of her nightmare, and she came to, panting and sobbing. Shuddering violently, she peered cautiously around the room. No one there. Wait- behind her bed, a pale hand outstretched, reaching, it's owner dissapearing behind the four-poster.

Luna crawled over to the hand, seeking the identity of the person in the room. She paused, gazing frantically for her wand. When had she last used it? When... When had she last left the room? Eaten? Seen her friends?

These questions were shoved aside as she gazed in horror at the blonde woman laying on her bedroom floor, a single trickle of blood tracing a morbid line down her porcelain skin, through her moonlit hair. Her silver eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, and a voice echoed in Luna's head.

"One thing you must always do, Luna, is have an open mind. Ready to see?" Luna gasped, scuttling backwards on the wood. "_Ready to see_?"

Her scream filled the room with a black cloud, and it choked her, fighting its way into her body, into her very soul. The purity of herself, her very essence, was being polluted by this Darkness, and Luna gave in. She was so exausted, and suddenly this seemed a very good place to sleep, here on this cold wooden floor, perverted by the Darkness she'd surrendered to. She would give herself up, just for this sleep. Just for a moment, and then she would fight...  
_

Neville was worried. It'd been a month since he'd seen Luna. He'd heard from Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Harry that they hadn't heard from her either, but they'd brushed it off. She'd sent him an owl on his birthday two weeks ago, and that was it.

He made up his mind. Time for a visit.  
_

Luna could feel it coming. Her heart was starting to beat faster, palms turning clammy. She squeezed her eyes shut and grit her teeth, laying on her side, hugging her knees to her chest, but the onslaught of color and feeling and despair wouldn't stop, and it only sped at her faster. Luna opened her eyes, and found herself lying on the floor during the Battle of Hogwarts. Ginny and Hermione were running towards her, and she locked eyes with Hermione, pleading silently for help.

She saw the life leave Hermione's amber eyes when the green jet hit her chest, and Luna drew a rattling breath. Ginny screamed, turning in slow motion, her firey hair fanning out behind her. Luna shut her eyes, feeling herself die inside. No. Ginny was blasted backwards, and slid across the cold stone floor to rest a foot away from Luna. She inched her way slowly to her best friend, and a keening sob was ripped out of her when she saw her lifeless stare. Luna collapsed on Ginny's chest, weeping into her still-warm neck, utterly broken.

"Luna!"

The shout was desperate, and clearly terrified. Luna couldn't extract herself from her friend to see who it was. She just didn't care anymore.

"_LUNA_! Oh, Godric."

She could feel someone trying to lift her, but she clung to Ginny, refusing to let her friend be taken by the Darkness that was now swirling around the Hall. But it wrapped around her friend, and she became as insubstantial as smoke. The entire Hall vanised in the cloud.

Luna could tell she was in someone's arms, but couldn't see through the haze of nightmares and false memories that had become her reality. The voice was still there, giving her a light to follow through the dark. And she sprinted through it, desperate for escape, but tendrils of it clung to her clothes and hair, ripping and tearing. Luna didn't care, because she could see light ahead.

And her eyes opened, and met the deep brown gaze of Neville Longbottom's. He seemed to be holding her, settled on the couch in her living room. The silence was pressing, and they just stared at each other, saying nothing. A small smile crinkled the corner of Neville's lips, and that was when Luna understood.

"It isn't real, you know." She said conversationally. "You aren't. This room-" she raised a limp hand and gestured around "-isn't real. I'm not really here." Neville frowned, shifting her so that she was leaning back against the pillows of the couch and her legs were over his lap. He was warm, she mused, and even though Luna knew it was just a reprieve from the nightmares, she enjoyed the moment with this alternate Neville.

"What do you mean, Luna? Of course it's real," Neville rushed out, worry creeping into his voice. His gaze travelled over his friend's body, noting the unhealthy pallor and prominent bones. When was the last time Luna ate?

"No, it's not," she replied indignantly. "You're just here to give me a break, before the next nightmare. Real doesn't exist for me anymore." Luna's eyes slid out of focus as the sentence left her mouth.

Neville gaped at her, alarmed. Real didn't exist? What kind of hell had Luna been through since the war? And why hadn't they noticed soon enough to help? With that thought, Neville squared his shoulders and cleared his throat.

"I'll prove it to you that I'm real, Luna." He said.

"How?"

"I'll tell you everything I know about you. And some things you wouldn't be able to imagine if I were really a dream." His tone was firm, resolved. Luna couldn't see how this dream was going to end, when it was going to fade to black, but she decided to entertain it as long as possible.

"OK."

Neville took a deep breath, and dove in.

"I know that you believe that anything is possible. I know that you went on holiday to search for the Crumple-Horned Snorcack. You convinced me that Nargles exist, and helped me to open my mind to new possibilites. People teased you all the time, called you Loony Lovegood, but you never let it hurt you. You've always been strong."

Luna stared hard into his eyes. She licked her cracked lips. "Not anymore." Neville's heart broke at the desolation on her face. But he went on.

"Y-you can see thestrals, like me. Your mother died when you were young, and you... You were there." Neville could see the agony in her silvery eyes, and hesitantly pulled her close to him. When she didn't recoil, he tucked her into his shoulder and continued.

"You were captured by Deatheaters," he whispered. "They took you because your father was showing support to Harry in The Quibbler, and they needed control over the media. You were held in the Malfoy Manor with the wandmaker, Mr. Ollivander. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione showed up, you escaped with them. A house elf- Dobby was his name, I think- That Harry knew helped you escape, and took you to Ron's older brother's place. Dobby died there. You recovered from- from whatever happened at the Manor at Ron's brother's house, and when the Battle of Hogwarts started, you knew because of our D.A. coins. The D.A.-" He started, but Luna cut him off.

"I believe you," she whispered. Luna's eyes were clearing, brightening, and she forced away the wisps of Darkness lingering in her mind.

"I wasn't done," Neville murmured back. "I know that you are good. A through-and-through good person. You're definitely better than me. You're incredibly intuitive. You have a gift for seeing things that others don't. You value your friends more than anything in the world. As we do you." Neville took a deep breath, steeling his nerves. "And I know that, because of all of that and so much more, I'm in love with you. I love you, Luna."

Luna turned her face up to look at him, wonder in her eyes of liquid moonlight. A small smile graced her lips, lighting up her worn face, and Neville kissed her temple.

"Now, explain what's happening to you, Luna, please." Neville pleaded. Luna's eyes had that far-away look, and she trembled in his arms.

"I-I don't really understand it. Since the Battle, I've had these nightmares that are just... Just horrible. I replay the Battle over and over, only everyone I love dies. Most survived, in real life, but not in my dreams... And I keep reliving everything that happened at the Manor. Things I want to forget more that anything. And- I see my mother die. I see her body in my room, speaking to me. I've gone mad, Neville." A tear worked its way down her cheek, and Neville tracked its progress, mesmerized.

"I've gone mad," she whispered again, and they spoke no more. Luna turned her head to rest it on Neville's chest, shaking violently, and his arms tightened protectively around her. The pair sat in silence for endless minutes, before the thought struck Neville.

"Luna," he started, "at the Battle, did you get cursed by any Deatheaters? St. Mungos has been in a uproar recently. Seems like they all developed mad spells to torture their victims long after the Battle."

"I don't really remember much. I remember fighting, and being hit with something and going down. But then Harry appeared and everything was so confusing... And I dream about the Battle almost every night, Neville, I don't know what really happened to me anymore. What were some of the curses?"

"Well, _Bellatrix_," Neville snarled, "developed a curse that put its victims in agony whenever they tried to sleep. It was like the Cruciatus Curse. Several people died of pure exaustion, since the curse kept them from sleeping. Most, however, got to St. Mungos in time for the Healers to reverse the spell. That's one reason Hermione got through Healer training so fast- She had an instinctive grasp on what would stop the curse, having been surrounded by so much Dark Magic during the war."

Luna's brow furrowed, and she concentrated harder than she had in her entire life. She knew who'd hit her, she just couldn't- couldn't- Her eyes shot open.

"And did Lucius Malfoy develop a curse?" Her question was hushed, but firey, and it gave Neville hope.

"We don't really know. We do know that he targeted everyone that was in his Manor at one point, for revenge, but there's no proof that he developed a new spell to do it. Hermione thinks he may have, though. Because Dean came in for a Dreamless Sleep presciption since he was having nightmares, only the potion- the potion didn't-" Neville stopped abruptly, staring at Luna.

"He did, didn't he Luna? Malfoy came up with some nightmare curse or something! That's what's happening to you! We have to get you to St. Mungos, now." Neville leapt up off the couch and turned back to Luna. That's when he remembered the state she was in. He quickly Scourgified her, and Transfigured her worn nightgown into warm blue robes.

Luna struggled to her feet, and swayed on the spot. Neville quickly wrapped his arm around her waist, noting how diminished it was, and she'd always been slender. "Luna, you need to eat something. When was the last time you ate?"

She turned her silver eyes on him, and the look inside was that of a child. "I don't remember," she whispered. "I've been so lost in my head." Neville cleared his throat, and began to help her over to the kitchen. Finding a loaf of bread, and some peanut butter, he made her a quick sandwich and told her to eat slowly. When Luna had it all down, they got ready to Apparate to St. Mungos.

"Wait!" Luna exclaimed, jerking her arm out of his hold as Neville began to turn on the spot. "My wand! I don't know where it is. Can you help me?" Neville Accioed Luna's wand, and it soared out of her bedroom, covered in a fine layer of dust. As she gripped it in her long fingers, she felt its welcoming tingle, and a smile worked its way onto her face.

"Almost ready," she said, and gave a little giggle at the confused look on Neville's face. "Just need to do one more thing..." And with that, Luna stood on her toes and pressed a soft kiss to Neville's warm lips. She felt them curve with a smile, and the pair broke away, laughing softly.

"I love you too, Neville. Have for a while now. I'd been waiting for you to notice, but I suspect the Nargles got at you," she concluded wisely. Neville swatted around his ears, filled with bliss at her statement. So normal, so purely _Luna_. He gathered her back into his arms and lost himself in her eyes of moonlight as they swept into the black.  
_

"Paper's here, love," Neville called back to the bedroom. He paid the owl, and, sitting at the kitchen table in their small flat, choked on his sip of coffee. He'd caught a glimpse of the cover. "Luna! Luna, you might want to see this!"

Luna heard his frantic shout and sighed, slipping out from under the warm covers. The weak sunlight coming through the window made the small diamond and silver engagement ring glimmer and she took a minute to admire the soft sparkle. Then she made her way to the kitchen, bare feet padding softly on the plush carpet. She walked up behind her fiance, sliding her arms around his neck and putting her chin on his shoulder.

"So it finally made the papers, hm?" Luna mused quietly. Neville glanced at her, worried, and began to read.

**DEATHEATER LUCIUS MALFOY SENTENCED TO THE DEMENTOR'S KISS**

_Lucius Malfoy was sentenced to recieve the Dementor's Kiss yesterday, when evidence came into light of his development of an illegal Dark curse that Malfoy developed and used during Battle of Hogwarts to take down his former prisioners. The punishment suits the curse, which he called the Dementri Somnium Curse. Translation? Dementor Dreams. This horrifying curse attacked its victim slowly, working its way into their dreams and turning them into nightmares. Victim Dean Thomas, a Muggleborn wizard who had been captured on the run and imprisioned in the Manor, was the person who first alerted Healers and Aurors to this curse._

_"It was like nothing else," said Thomas in an exculsive interview. "The curse warped my dreams, turning them into the worst nightmares you could imagine. After a few days, I went to see a friend who works at St. Mungos about a prescription for Dreamless Sleep. The potion was inneffective, and the dreams only got worse. Eventually I was having a hard time figuring out what was dream and what was reality. I went back to Mungos and they did a number of tests on me. When my friend, Hermione Granger, tested my body for Dark Magic, we found alarming traces of it in me. She developed a counter-curse and discovered that the magical signature was Lucius Malfoy's."_

_Malfoy was by then in Azkaban for a life sentence, due to the horrors he inflicted under Lord Voldemort's reign. When he was questioned about the curse, he at first denied having anything to do with it. But when Luna Lovegood, who hadn't been seen for weeks, showed up at St. Mungos inflicted with the curse and in much worse condition than Thomas was, he was questioned again. He admitted, under the influence of Veritiserum, that he had indeed developed the curse._

_Lovegood was unavaliable for comment, due to-_ **CONTINUE ON PAGE 2.**

Luna took the paper away from Neville, folded it neatly and placed it on the table, then slid into his lap. His eyes were sad, and Luna gave him a blissful smile. "It's over, love. I'm better now. Don't dwell on it, please." She kissed him gently, and his answer was to wind his hand in her hair and hold her closer to him. He broke away for a moment, resting his forehead against hers.

"No more nightmares?" He questioned urgently.

"No more nightmares." Luna answered firmly, and with that the young couple picked up where they left off.

* * *

**Phew! I don't think I've ever put that much effort into a story. I really hope you liked it! I'm sorry that Luna wasn't as Luna-ish as I'm sure you wanted her to be. It was difficult for me to get the hang of her. She's not really a character I get naturally, but I respect Luna a lot! Oh, and I named her mother Diana after the moon goddess. Fits, right?**

**Please review, it would mean the world to me! I worked hard on this! :D Thanks for reading, lovelies!**

**Cheers,**  
**Raspberryjukebox**


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